Trinemates
by Transformer-Slash
Summary: Pointless seeker slash. Thundercracker/Skywarp/Starscream. Takes place before the war. It's kind of my theory on how they met. Plug'n'Play


Ha, pointless seeker slash is pointless. I've had this story in my head for a long time, but it was just so happy living there that I let it alone. I decided to share though, so here it is!

Warnings: I own not a damn thing, Plug'n'Play Interface, three-way, Thundercracker/Skywarp/Starscream

Please write scathing commentary and grammar nazi all over it.

* * *

Starscream was used to being approached in bars. It had been happening ever since he had returned to Cybertron. His long expedition with Skyfire was cut abruptly short by tragedy, and Starscream had immediately begun a pattern of drowning his sorrows in high-grade and one-night-stands. Starscream was gorgeous by just about anybot's standards and even without any credits to his name he always ended up at the end of the night with someone to pay his tab and let him into their berth. So he was not shocked at all when two mechs approached him that evening. They were a bit of an odd pair. Both of them shared the basic seeker build, but they had their own features which made them distinct. Two such factors were their color scheme and expressions. One was purple and black and his face was filled with exuberance and something like mischief. The other was blue and slate with his mouth drawn into what seemed like a permanent frown. They certainly looked strange together.

"Hi there!" The purple one spoke first. "I'm Skywarp, and this is Thundercracker." He motioned to his somber companion. "And we couldn't help but notice that you're a seeker like us."

"Is that so?" Starscream wanted to inform the upstart that they were not alike at all, but he decided that writing off his first option of the night so quickly might be a bad idea. "Well, Skywarp, I'm Starscream, and it is very nice to meet you both."

"Nice to meet you too!" Skywarp looked back nervously at Thundercracker, and it was clear he didn't know what to do next.

"Let me cut right to the chase." Thundercracker began.

"You want to have a three-way interface, right?" Starscream smirked. He got asked that all the time. He was surprised at the sudden burst of giggles from Skywarp, and the embarrassed flush of energon in Thundercracker's faceplate.

"No, uh…" Thundercracker looked around awkwardly. "It actually wasn't anything like that at all."

"Oh, my mistake." It was Starscream's turn to look awkward and embarrassed. "I'm sorry, just, 'bots in this bar usually-"

"Uh, I understand. No big deal." Thundercracker replied stiffly. Skywarp was laughing so hard he looked like he might fall over by this point. "See, Skywarp and I are members of the racing circuit. We've wanted to join the trine division for a while, the credit pay-outs are better, but we haven't had a third flyer. Skywarp suggested we just ask around, but I can see we probably ought to go about it another way. I'm sorry to have wasted your time."

"You haven't wasted my time." Starscream gave a sly smile. "I'm a very experienced flyer. If you like I'll demonstrate my abilities."

"Really?" Thundercracker looked skeptical. It seemed he had a qualm with recruiting a mech who had just propositioned him and his best friend for interface.

"Wow! On the first try too!" Skywarp said, finally having pulled himself together. "See, I told you asking around was a good idea."

"Wait an astrosecond, 'Warp, we don't even know if he's racing material." Thundercracker looked increasingly uncomfortable with the whole situation, but Skywarp's enthusiasm would not be quelled.

"Well c'mon 'Screamer show us those wings aren't just for decoration." Starscream widened his optics at the use of a nickname and the unnatural familiarity it implied. Skywarp grabbed Starscream and Thundercracker's arms and began pulling them both toward the exit. As soon as a roof was no longer overhead Skywarp let go of his two 'captives' and transformed. "Catch me if you can Starscream!"

"Is he serious?" Starscream fixed Thundercracker with a look of utter confusion.

"He's never serious, but if you can catch him you can join our trine." Thundercracker replied.

"Is he that fast?" Starscream asked.

"You just fly after him and see." Starscream didn't need to be told twice. He couldn't really explain why he wanted to join this strange duo, but Starscream imagined it had something to do with his ever present craving for excitement. The same craving that had led him to join the exploration team with Skyfire, and that would later lead him to help create the Decepticons.

Starscream transformed and took off in one fluid motion. The origin of his name was perhaps revealed in the shriek of air that split around him as he gave chase. Thundercracker followed at a slower pace. He did not need to be nearby to know what would happen. Starscream gained on Skywarp quickly and when he was finally in range, he changed into robot-mode arms outstretched to catch Skywarp. Starscream thought he had won this little challenge, but it became evident that is wasn't so easy when Starscream's hands closed around empty air and an obnoxious purple flash filled his optics. He looked up, bewildered, to see Skywarp flying off already nearly fifty feet away.

"Oh. SkyWARP." Starscream mumbled angrily to himself. The realization made him extremely irritated. He resumed the chase, and again gained on Skywarp easily. This time he chose not to transform, catching Skywarp would take something more than speed. It would take cunning, which was something Starscream prided himself on having. Every time he got reasonably close he backed off again, trying to build a false sense of security. It worked. Skywarp got sloppy and Starscream took his chance. When Skywarp took a sharp turn Starscream continued on straight, he transformed just before the imminent collision. Starscream felt a rush of triumph as his hand closed around the tip of a wing. Skywarp came screeching to a halt and transformed. His faceplate flushed with energon, intakes cycling quickly.

"Y-You're good." Skywarp said, hovering awkwardly. "Uh, m-my wing, could you-"

"Oh, right, sorry." Starscream released the wing tip and he saw Skywarp's body un-tense.

"Huh, I didn't think you'd actually catch him." Thundercraker hovered with his hands on his hips, he looked impressed. "I guess that means you're in."

"Yeah, we'll win that race next solarcycle for sure!" Skywarp had regained his own version of composure.

"Next solarcycle, that soon?" Starscream hadn't actually thought what his victory would mean, but now it was sinking in. He was going to be a racer, and if he won he was going to get a lot of credits. A lot of credits could buy you a lot of high-grade, and a berth that you didn't have to share with a big-stupid-brute. Starscream's faceplate spread out in a smile.

"Yup." Skywarp was beaming. "Hey, I got an idea. I don't know where you usually recharge, but how about you crash at our place tonight? That way we can get up early and warm out engines up."

"That sounds good." Starscream didn't miss the way Thundercracker seemed to flinch at the suggestion. "If I wouldn't be intruding."

"Intruding? You kidding me? You're our trine-mate now. That practically makes us brothers! Isn't that right TC?" Skywarp nudged his friend playfully.

"We only have two berths… where would he recharge?" Thundercracker pointed out.

"He can share mine." Skywarp said, cheerfully throwing an arm around Starscream.

"I could always recharge on the floor, I'm used to roughing it you know." Starscream sensed the animosity having Skywarp's arm around him was creating. He knew a love sick mech when he saw one, and Thundercracker was a textbook example.

"No way!" Skywarp protested. "Having a guest sleep on the floor is barbaric."

"I'll sleep on the floor, he can have my berth." Thundercracker sighed, hoping this would appease Skywarp. It seemed to do the trick.

"Aw, you mean it TC?" Skywarp's face broke out again into his ludicrously bright smile and he gave Thundercracker a hug, and thanked him as if he was a parent allowing him to keep a stray animal. "It'll be awesome, I promise."

'And I'll feed him and take him for walks too.' Starscream thought dryly at the display. Skywarp babbled excitedly all the way back to their quarters. Thundercracker and Skywarp lived in a modest one room apartment, with an offshoot to a maintenance room and wash rack. The living space was not quite cramped, but it was certainly cozy. The only real furnishings were the two berths on either side of the room, aside from that there was a medium sized screen controlled by a wall panel, they were not high enough in society to afford one with voice command. Starscream smiled, it seemed very much like a home, which was something he had not had for well over a century.

"This berth's mine!" Skywarp hoped onto it and it rebounded slightly when his weight landed on it. "That one is TC's, that's where you'll sleep until we can getcha your own with the prize money."

"My own?" Starscream looked surprised. "I thought I was only staying here for tonight."

"So did I." Thundercracker agreed.

"Well, if you don't want to stay here, I guess I understand." Skywarp said, looking dejected.

"It's not that I don't want to." Starscream amended quickly. "In fact, I am sort of transient right now, so a place to stay would be great. It's just that I've only met you both today, and I really don't want to intrude."

"What'd I say about that whole intruding thing? Our living quarters are your living quarters!" Starscream gave an almost apologetic glance to Thundercracker. He had a feeling that 'our' really meant 'Skywarp's'.

"Yeah, stay here if you like." Thundercracker didn't look like he really meant it, but Starscream decided that having a stable place to live was worth a few death glares.

"Alright, you've twisted my wing. I'll stay." Starscream said.

"Right then." Thundercracker motioned to his berth. "Make yourself at home, we've got a big day tomorrow."

- As predicted, they won the race. Starscream hadn't really known what to expect at first. He was used to watching pit fights, but seeker races were something he hadn't ever seen in action. They were a bit like an unorthodox relay-race. The difference being that the 'baton' was an energon cube, and there was only one.

Thundercracker was the one to fly the first leg. Although he was the slowest of the three, it was clear why he was the starting choice; Thundercracker was brilliant at maneuvering. Starscream had to shove his mouth closed when Thundercracker did a barrel roll, knocking all his opponents out of his way, and catching the cube in his cockpit as it was dropped.

He got it to Skywarp. It was against the rules for Skywarp to use his power to move forward, but sideways was no problem. As the other racers would approach him to try and snatch the cube, he would simply warp laterally out of their way.

When Starscream received the cube the race was as good as won. His speed was unmatched by anyone else present. He crossed the finish line in a matter of astroseconds.

"We smoked them!" Skywarp cheered as he grabbed both his trine mates around their shoulders. "They never even knew what hit them, this calls for a celebration."

"I couldn't agree more." Starscream was looking forward to buying his own drink.

"Sounds like a plan." Even Thundercracker seemed to have had his spark lightened by their major victory. However, his jubilation only lasted so long. After a few rounds of high-grade both his companions were over energized, and needed a lot of help getting home. After dragging them down the hall from the lift and getting the door open the weight of his trine mates caused Thundercracker to overbalance and fall with Starscream and Skywarp on top of him in an undignified heap.

"You two come here often?" Starscream giggled, and Skywarp joined in. Both of them were energized off their afts and Thundercracker was not amused.

"Why you ask, sugar-thrusters?" Skywarp's comment elicited another bout of drunken giggles.

"Noooo reason. Just didn't know what a coupla nice mechs like you were doing in a place like this." His face grew closer to Skywarp's all the while. Thundercracker decided to put an end to the exchange by sitting up and shoving his friends off.

"Aw, Mr. Grumpy-wings doesn't like us flirting." Skywarp was on his back on the floor, looking up at Thundercracker with a stupid smile plastered on his faceplates.

"He's just jealous." Starscream declared, rolling over onto his cockpit and crawling over to where Skywarp was. It seemed the relation between high-grade and the desire to interface was still strong in Starscream. He threw one leg over to Skywarp's other side and straddled him, placing his hands on either side of Skywarp's helm. "Now where were we?"

"You tell me, I have no clue." Skywarp threw his arms up around Starscream's neck and tried to look as seductive as an over-energized mech could. Starscream leaned down and kissed him. Thundercracker could almost hear the sickening snap of his own spark breaking in two. He watched for a moment in a paralysis that was equal parts fascination and disgust. Starscream's glossa ran across Skywarp's lower lip, and he allowed him entrance. The drunken giggles had subsided to be replaced by a sudden and overwhelming air of lust. Starscream was a great kisser, there was no doubt. Even if he hadn't been, Skywarp would have nothing to compare it to. This was his first kiss.

Skywarp moaned as Starscream's talented hands began to occupy themselves with running over Skywarp's body. Experience and knowledge of his own body combined to let Starscream know exactly where all of Skywarp's hot-spots would be. He ran his fingers up the seams where Skywarp's wings met his torso, and Skywarp broke the kiss to cry out.

"St-Starscream, ah, that feels s-so good." Skywarp managed to say before his words dissolved into moans and gibberish. Starscream leaned down closer, and the glass of their cockpits met. Starscream moved his body slowly down, creating a delightful friction that made Skywarp squirm even more. "Nn, Star, uh wh-what are you-"

"Just relax, 'Warp." Starscream said. He had reached the end of the contact point between their cockpits, and Starscream's head was now between Skywarp's legs. He seemed to have shaken off much of his drunkenness. "If you like what I've done so far, you'll really enjoy this." Starscream knew how to direct current through his body to shock his interface partner with, and now he transferred it to his lips and placed a soft kiss on Skywarp's lower plating. Skywarp bucked his hips, moaning so loudly it was nearly a scream. That was enough to break Thundercracker out of his horrified stupor.

"Stop!" He yelled, unable to sit and watch this go on any longer.

"H-huh?" Skywarp onlined his optics and realized he was directly in front of Thundercracker the entire time this had been going on. In all the excitement he hadn't even thought about it. Starscream had indeed stopped, and now he looked at Thundercracker from his place between Skywarp's legs.

"Oh, Thundercracker, sorry." Starscream's voice was silky, and he began stroking the inside of Skywarp's thigh. "It was rude of me to leave you out, feel free to jump in anytime. I'm sure Skywarp would appreciate your 'help'."

"He's over-energized, and so are you." 'Were you' would have been more accurate. Starscream no longer seemed the least bit intoxicated. "If you guys decide you want to interface sober, that's one thing," A very bad thing, in Thundercracker's opinion, "but I can't, in good conscience, let you-"

Thundercracker shut up when a hand suddenly began moving slowly up his thigh toward his lower plating. It was Skywarp's hand. Thundercracker looked down at his best friend in utter shock. How many times had he dreamed Skywarp would one day touch him that way, and look at him with pleading eyes and a flushed faceplate. It was too many times to count, but he had never imagined it like this even once. What of the love confession he had never worked up the courage to enact? What of all the time he'd spent playing the role of just-a-friend? It all suddenly didn't matter, because all his fantasies were just fantasies, and Skywarp's hand on his lower plating slowly rubbing up and down was very real.

"C'mon TC, don't be such a dip-stick in the mud." Skywarp's optics glowed low and Thundercracker felt a sickeningly familiar lurch of longing. He really shouldn't give in. He really should pick both of them up and throw them in to separate berths, and lie on the floor in between them to make sure they didn't get any funny ideas. However, what he should do, and what he wanted to do were on opposite extremes. For once in his life, Thundercracker gave in to what he wanted.

Starscream didn't say anything, only smirked and got out of the way when Thundercracker moved to straddle Skywarp. Thundercracker hesitated for a moment. This was wrong. Taking advantage of his best friend was the most wrong thing he could think of, but he was doing it anyway.

"My turn to watch." Starscream purred, as an attempt to encourage his trine-mates to make a move. Skywarp did so first; he leaned up and kissed Thundercracker. The kiss was sloppy with their mutual inexperience. The clash of glossas and dental-plates was urgent with lust. Skywarp was already teetering close to overload. Starscream decided to provide his friends with a little guidance. He placed a hand on Thundercracker's back, and chuckled when he heard him growl possessively.

"Thundercracker, if you keep up like that he'll overload before you even link up." Starscream said expertly. Thundercracker broke the kiss and turned his head to glare at Starscream. "Sit up, and I'll show you how to do this properly."

"No offence Starscream but-" Thundercracker was shocked to feel himself being shoved back onto his knees as Skywarp moved to a kneeling position.

"Like this?" Skywarp asked.

"Just like that." Starscream nodded, and he moved in closer to his trine-mates. "First off, I think Thundercracker needs to relax a little. Am I right?"

"Yeah." Skywarp nodded.

"Follow my lead then." Starscream leaned in and kissed Thundercracker's wing. His hand moved slowly up its underside and his mouth ran along the top. Skywarp caught on, and mirrored Starscream's motions on the other wing. When Starscream reached the wing tip, he bit it softly and Thundercracker had to bite his lower lip to keep from moaning. He had no desire to let Starscream think he was enjoying this. He had to be strong, but it was so hard when his wings were being so deliciously assaulted. He felt his ability to think clearly dimming. Starscream had decided he was done with Thundercracker's wing, and he moved on to nibble his neck wiring, slowly running his hand down his cockpit. Skywarp joined Starscream in touching Thundercracker's torso.

"Is this good?" Skywarp asked curiously, running his finger along the outline of Thundercracker's vents. Thundercracker bit his lip so hard a thin trail of energon began to trickle down his chin, and Starscream felt the suppressed moan rumble under his lips.

"Good job, Skywarp, he likes it." Starscream said, stopping a moment to provide praise to his 'student'. "Try pressing a little deeper."

"No-don't do tha- AT!" Starscream felt triumphant. He'd finally gotten Thundercracker to loosen up a bit, or at least he had gotten Skywarp to loosen him up. Starscream gave Skywarp a little reward, in the form of placing his hand on his lower plating. It had heated up considerably from arousal, and with just a little slide it moved out of the way, revealing Skywarp's lower interface panel. Skywarp tensed up, his hands tightly gripped Thundercracker's shoulders as Starscream's fingers began to search for his interface cable.

"Why don't you go ahead and get Thundercracker's undone?" Starscream suggested. Skywarp nodded, unable to speak, electricity was beginning to arc between his plating and Thundercracker, and his hand shocked Thundercracker's lower plating as he went to undo it. Thundercracker's intake fans kicked up a notch in a desperate attempt to cool him. Skywarp slid the plating aside with clumsy fingers, he followed what Starscream was doing to him as a guide and soon found Thundercracker's interface cable, and he pulled it out gently. Starscream had undone his own plating and they were now ready to link up. He guided his trine-mates into a triangular shape with their wing tips touching. Seeing to them first, Starscream connected Thundercracker's cable into Skywarp's port and Skywarp was plugged into Starscream's. As soon as this connection was made Starscream began to tremble. The flood of energy was blasting into him from both of them. It took only a moment for all three to become completely lost in the relentless flow of energy.

They blindly pressed their bodies together, each desiring more friction and more channels for the electricity to travel. Starscream wanted it to last, but he knew that if he did not plug himself into Thundercracker they would all three fry. His hands fumbled clumsily trying plug in, Thundercracker understood what was needed, and he helped guide the cable into his own port. The connection made renewed the energy flow with doubled force. The seekers arms wrapped around each other and they pressed their chassis close. One final pulse of electricity sent all three over the edge and into overload.

The air crackled with static and for a moment the sound of intake fans working was unbearably loud. Slowly Thundercracker began to come down off his overload. Skywarp and Starscream both leaned against him panting with their helms resting on either side of his chest. Thundercracker began to undo their connections and slide their plating back in place. He did so gently, and with some reluctance when he had to undo his connection to Skywarp.

When this was done it hit Thundercracker what had just happened. He had just interfaced with his best friend, and his other trine-mate. He couldn't help but wonder what that meant. Were he and Skywarp together now, as lovers? Was he Starscream's lover also? The answer to his question came sooner than expected.

"That was great." Starscream said, breaking the silence. "We'll have to do that again."

"Uh-huh." Skywarp mumbled into Thundercracker's chest. "I didn't know interfacing was that much fun. We'll do it again, right TC?"

"Uh… Sure." Thundercracker said yes, but he couldn't help but feel totally appalled. The two of them were talking like they had just discovered a new hobby. Not like mechs who had just engaged in what used to be a part of sacred Cybertronian bonding rights.

"Mmm, I'm sleeeepy. TC, can we sleep in your Berth tonight? S'bigger 'en mine." Skywarp's voice was becoming groggy.

"Uh, yeah." Thundercracker helped his trine-mates to their feet, and they all meandered over to Thundercracker's berth, lying in it together.

While it was a little larger than Skywarp's, it really wasn't large enough for three mechs to recharge in comfortably, but they somehow managed, in a tangle of limps and wings. At least Skywarp and Starscream managed. Thundercracker didn't recharge at all that night.

* * *

Ugh. I'm so mean to TC, he's my favorite and he reminds me a lot of myself... which is probably why I'm so mean to him D:


End file.
